


Ripples on the Water

by DoesEulerDreamofComplexSheep



Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: Angst, F/F, Fluff and Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-06
Updated: 2020-06-06
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:55:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24578632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DoesEulerDreamofComplexSheep/pseuds/DoesEulerDreamofComplexSheep
Summary: After a fight Beca searches for a gesture to show Chloe how she feels, and Chloe wonders if she let her temper get the best of her.
Relationships: Chloe Beale/Beca Mitchell, Stacie Conrad/Aubrey Posen
Comments: 12
Kudos: 85





	Ripples on the Water

**Author's Note:**

  * For [@summersailedin on tumblr](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=%40summersailedin+on+tumblr).



> This story is a thank you to [@summersailedin](https://summersailedin.tumblr.com/) for participating in the [@ppfandomdrive](https://ppfandomdrive.tumblr.com/) and supporting the black lives matter. I feel honored to help in this small way. Full prompt at the end.
> 
> I do not own any of the IP in this writing.

Chloe flipped the page in the book she was reading, cozied in her favorite chair beneath an afghan. She loved the feeling of the dry paper as it slid under her fingertips. It brought back memories of reading beside her nana on grey, rainy days, bundled up in a thick sweater to ward away any hint of chill.The pages were illuminated by a warm pool of light from the lamp over her shoulder, which spilled onto her girlfriend, Beca, on the couch next to her. Beca was hunched over her laptop, her chocolate hair falling in waves over her shoulders as she scrutinized the track she was working on.

Beca was a music producer, and Chloe had been hearing the thin whispers of the music leaking from the open cans on Beca's headphones for the better part of an hour, so as the sound died she looked up, smiling as she always did at how comical the massive earcups looked on the tiny brunette's head. Beca sat up straight and pulled the headphones down around her neck, stretching her slim arms out to wide then letting them fall back to her sides. Although her headphones stayed where she put them, she went back to work, her fingers dancing over the keyboard with purpose. Chloe loved watching her girlfriend's delicate fingers work. A lot of their friends only saw the clumsy and careless Beca, more often than not tripping over her own feet, but whenever Chloe watched those fingers it was obvious how graceful Beca was, just in the ways that mattered to Beca. Mostly music. And some other, more personal things.

"Did you finish the track?" The staccato of soft key clicks died after a few moments and the producer nodded and set her hand on the top of her notebook computer, swinging it closed and laying it on the coffee table in front of her.

"Yep." she announced, popping her P in the way she had adopted after her constant exposure to Chloe. 

"Three for three." Beca said, letting out a puff of air as she sighed. "Let's just hope that the artist likes it."

Beca often referred to the people she was working with vaguely, much of her work being veiled by a heavy cloak of NDAs; studios and artists wanted to hold control over how their work was announced and promoted. Chloe knew Beca just didn't want to put her in a position of having to avoid accidentally saying something to one of their less discrete friends. That wasn't even a hypothetical; once Beca, a junior producer at the time, had accidentally revealed to their friend, Fat Amy, that she was in talks to produce an album for Pink!, and less than an hour later Amy had tweeted the artist in question about how hot the album would be with Beca working on it. Beca's firm had almost lost the contract, and it was only the artist's insistence that she agreed with Fat Amy and wouldn't work with anyone but Beca that kept the producer employed. So yeah, Chloe didn't take it personally. Besides, Chloe reflected, Beca often shared her own music that she wrote before it ever was heard by another living soul, and that mattered way more to Chloe than getting a sneak peak at whatever Billie Eilish or whoever was going to be putting out next year.

"How could they not? I only heard through your headphones, and it still sounded amazing!" Chloe answered, and Beca grinned warmly at the compliment. Beca knew that as much as Chloe loved her, she would never blow smoke up her ass about her music.

"I'm going to pour myself a glass of wine, do you want one?" Beca asked as she stood up from the couch and stretched, easing her muscles of their dull ache from sitting for so long.

"That sounds nice, thanks. A red?" Chloe responded, her voice raising to vocalize her question. Beca nodded and slipped into the kitchen, her bare feet silent on the carpet.

"Do you wanna watch something babe?" Beca called over her shoulder, carefully pulling a pair of wine glasses from their rack under the cabinet. "Stacey told me that she and Aubrey watched all of Sex Education and it was really funny."

Chloe closed the book on her finger, careful to keep her place with her thumb.

"Oh, I do, but I really need to get through some more of this." She held the book up, waiting for Beca to turn and see her. "It's some poems I'm thinking of using for that class they wanted me to do on love in classic literature for next semester." she said, careful to raise her voice so Beca could hear her. Chloe had been a literature and communications professor at University of Southern California for a little over three years, and was on the fast track for tenure. She had been approached by her department head within Dornsife to create a course studying depictions of love and sex in classical literature in response to her doctoral paper on the history of how sex and relationships were portrayed in all forms of media, which was equally exciting and daunting for the young woman. 

"Listen to this one." Chloe cleared her throat and recited part of one of the short poems been considering:

_The troubled waters  
are frozen fast.  
Under clear heaven  
moonlight and shadow  
ebb and flow._

"That's the part of one of my favorite poems, from a 16th century Japanese writer. It's all so romantic." she explained as she finished, watching Beca come in with a wine glass in each hand.

"Uhuh, yeah, it was really nice." Beca said, her voice seeming distracted. Chloe frowned. 

"Beca, were you even listening to me?"

Beca glanced at her as she set the wine glasses down on the glass top of the table, her expression like a child caught doing something she shouldn't have.

"Uh, yeah, totally, I-" Beca trailed off as she saw Chloe's eyes flash dangerously. "I'm sorry, I just don't really get poetry. Like, it's all dense and mopey and over done prose." she finished . Chloe rolled her eyes, more amused then upset.

"That's all lyrics are, y'know?" she chided.

Beca choked out a small laugh. "They aren't the same Chlo. I mean, sure, they're similar, but lyrics are a part of the music, y'know?" She held out her hands, gesturing emphatically. Chloe nodded, feeling her professor mode gearing up.

"So you're saying that having a melody alongside fundamentally changes how words work as prose?"

"Well, yeah." Beca replied. Chloe straightened up and leaned toward Beca a bit.

"What about rap?" Beca watched her quizzically, obviously not following where Chloe was going with her line of though, but she nodded slowly. 

"Well," Chloe pressed on, settling comfortably in her chair, "a lot of rap barely has any melody other than the rhymes themselves. Isn't Gift of Gab one of your favorites?"

"Yeah, well mostly Blackalicious, but he's the rapper." Beca was still obviously lost.

"And you said you liked him because he keeps it so simple." Chloe concluded. Beca watched her but didn't reply, sensing that Chloe was about to draw her point together.

"So that proves that the lyricism, the poetry is as important as the melody and the other components that you're saying seperate poetry from music." Chloe smiled, feeling satisfied that she had made her point. Beca picked up her wine glass and took a sip as she processed Chloe's explanation.

"Still," Beca said with a shrug, "people like music. I mean, music actually matters."

Beca realized her mistake the instant the words left her mouth, and her face fell, contrition immediately written all over it. The room was completely, terrifyingly still. All Beca could hear were her own thundering heartbeats as that moment stretched on for what felt like eternity.

"Chloe, I didn't mean th-"

Chloe put her hand up, cutting Beca's explanation off as she interrupted. 

"Unbelievable! You are unbelievable Beca Mitchell." Chloe rose, cradling her book close to her waist in the crook of her arm. She looked down at her girlfriend who quailed at the withering expression. 

"If it's not your music then I guess it just isn't important."

Chloe turned, needing to be anywhere but within eyesight of Beca

"Honey, wait. Where are you going?" Beca whined.

"I'm going to bed."

Beca glanced at the glasses of wine, untouched, as Chloe swiftly ascended the stairs and gave a defeated sigh. She scooped them back up and made her way to the kitchen. She poured the wine into the sink and rinsed the glasses, placing them gently in the drying rack over their sink and turned around, knowing she needed to go and apologize to Chloe. She wasn't expecting to see the older woman reaching the bottom of the stairs when she turned around, however, and paused at the edge of the kitchen counter with her brows knitted in confusion. That was, until she saw the pillow and the comforter Chloe had in her hands.

"Look, I'm sorry, I was-" Beca's was silenced by Chloe's furious glare, her cerulean eyes stormy. The pillow and blanket were unceremoniously tossed onto the couch and Chloe turned on her heels and went back upstairs without uttering a word. 

"Fuck." Beca muttered quietly into the empty space around her.This was not how Beca had pictured their night going.

The next morning Chloe had barely said three words to Beca, clearly still upset, and Beca could tell that trying to talk about it was only going to rub salt in the wound right now. Beca hated not making peace with Chloe, but such was her temper. Anyone who knew Chloe for more than five minutes could tell that she was a bubbly extrovert who loved people. True to that she had taken all of one day for her inner optimist to see the silver linings to Beca when they first met, even though their friend Stacey had once said that Beca was as friendly as a cape buffalo, and just as moody. Despite that, and the exotic list of self-destructive defense mechanisms Beca had built up after her dad walked out Chloe had stuck to Beca, chipping away at the walls and eventually allowing her and Beca to find one another. What many people didn't know about Chloe, however, was how bad her temper could be. Granted, getting Chloe upset took a truly monumental effort most of the time but when she finally lost it Chloe Beale could hold a grudge with the best of them. Beca was the first to admit that she wasn't an easy person to be close to, and unfortunately that meant she had said and done things to tread on that anger before, and last night was another stellar example of how talented Beca was at unintentionally saying something stupid that hurt Chloe. That was the real kicker if she was being honest with herself. Beca could deal with the silent treatment and death stares, but underneath all that Beca knew Chloe was hurt by how dismissive she had been of something deeply important to her girlfriend and that ate away at Beca like nothing else.

She sat in her office, staring at a mug of coffee that had turned ice cold, she didn't even know how long ago, and tried to figure out how she could make it up to Chloe. She wanted to tell her girlfriend that she knew how much she had fucked up, but more importantly she wanted to do something that would show Chloe that she really did care about the things that were important to her. Beca loved Chloe, she knew down in her heart that she was the one for her - her end game, and Beca really did love everything that made her girlfriend who she was, even if she sometimes did a really crappy job of showing it. Suddenly an idea popped into Beca's head and she sat upright so suddenly her hand caught on her keyboard, jamming her ring finger into its socket and jostling her barely touched coffee hard enough that a small wave of the hickory colored liquid splashed over the rim of the mug, spattering her desktop like a monochromatic Jackson Pollock. Beca swore and wrung her hand, flexing it to make sure she hadn't done something serious. It hurt like a bitch, but she was sure it would be fine, and she had more important things to worry about. She wiggled her mouse impatiently and tapped her login into the computer. As soon as the machine came to life she opened a web browser and began putting her plan into action.

* * *

Chloe watched the sweat bead slowly inch its way down the edge of her martini glass, collecting other drops of moisture as it slowly obeyed gravity's relentless pull towards the stem of the glass.

"OK, spill it Chlo. You've been mopey for two weeks, and for two weeks I've kept my mouth shut, but now-" the blond sitting across the table paused, taking an impressive pull of her own drink before continuing. "Now you're messing with our girl's night, and that I will not take." 

Aubrey Posen struck an impressive figure. She was the lead counsel for a tooling manufacturer, and was half a head taller than Chloe where they sat - although it was true when they stood as well - with strong yet graceful features that could have been hewn from marble. Her blond hair fell past her shoulders in perfectly choreographed curls, and her entire presence exuded an unmistakable air of command. She was also Chloe's best friend, and the tough-girl act didn't fool the redhead for even an instant. She knew for all her bluster and drill-instructor bravado the blond was a puppy-dog; at least when it came to Chloe. She looked up, catching Aubrey's eyes and leaned down onto her elbow, her other hand pushing her drink away from her.

"Beca and I got into a fight." she said simply. Aubrey took another sip of her drink.

"Anything serious?"  
Chloe shook her head noncommittally, then shrugged.

"No. Well, I mean, yeah, but it wasn't really." Aubrey's eyebrow shot up, confused.

"Chloe, honey, what the hell are you talking about?"

Chloe sighed, giving up and pulling her drink back to her. She gave an appreciative gulp and winced as the cocktail splashed against the back of her throat. Damn, it was strong tonight, then she remembered that the bartender here was trying to get in Aubrey's pants.

"Beca and I were hanging out, and I could tell she wasn't really paying attention." Chloe began, leaning toward Aubrey so she could be heard in the sound of the bar. "So I called her out for it, and she said something stupid that really hurt my feelings, and I got mad at her."

"So tell me what's new." Aubrey said with a roll of her eyes. Chloe ignored the jab. Beca and Aubrey were pretty good friends now, but they had been like oil and water when they first met in college; the two older women were captains of the college acapella team that would wind up such a huge part of all of their lives, and Beca was an arrogant freshman that Aubrey had gleefully described to her best friend as an alt-girl eyeline monster.

"Anyway, that was almost three weeks ago, and we still haven't really talked about it, which is kind of weird for her." Aubrey shot her a meaningful look and Chloe waved dismissively at her. 

"Oh hush, you know she's gotten way better about that sort of stuff. It's super rare for her to not talk about things like that. Hell, she hates to even go to sleep if one of us is angry." Aubrey finished her drink, nodding - not a little impressed with the growth she had seen the tiny music savant achieve beside her best friend. 

"I actually think it might kind of be my fault Bree." Chloe said, her face wracked with guilt.

"But I thought you said she said something that hurt you." Aubrey said, her face screwed up with confusion.

"She did," Chloe said, pausing for another sip of the drink. "but I was so mad I made her sleep on the couch and practically wouldn't speak to her for several days."

Tears started to form in the corner of the teacher's eyes and Aubrey reached across and placed her hand on her hand to reassure her.

"Oh my gosh Bree, what if I fucked up?! Beca must think I was such a bitch to get so angry over something that I wouldn't talk to her!"

The earlier beers and a few way too strong martinis were now in full effect on Chloe, and the tears were coming freely at this point. Aubrey stepped around the table and sat next to Chloe, putting her arm around her friend's shoulder.

"Sweetie, Beca doesn't think you're a bitch." Chloe sniffed loudly, and picked up the miniscule napkin that was stuck to the bottom of her drink to dab at her eye.

"She doesn't?" Chloe said, and Aubrey had to keep herself from laughing at how much like a sad child Chloe sounded like.

"No, honey, she loves you. That girl is so soft for you, she's like a marshmallow on a hot plate. She's probably just busy or doesn't know how to talk to you about it. Bring it up and I'm sure she'll open up and you guys can figure it out."

"Yeah? You think so?" Chloe asked as she looked up, her eyes heavy in her very tipsy state.  
Aubrey nodded and pulled her into a tight hug.

"I know so. You guys are solid." Chloe smiled at her friend, glad that Aubrey had helped pull her out of her head and give her reassurance.

"Besides," Aubrey finally said a few minutes of Chloe's sniffing and wiping. "If she doesn't I'll kick that little midget's butt back to Georgia."

Chloe broke into a smile. The blond stood up and offered her hand, helping her friend to her feet.

"Alright Chlo, let's get you home so you can fix things with Miss. Right."

* * *

Beca paused the show she was streaming as she stifled a yawn. She looked at the time on her phone and wondered when Chloe would get home. She and Aubrey could stay out pretty late at times, especially if they decided to go dancing after they finished dinner. Beca was considering making a cup of coffee to help her stay up when her thoughts were interrupted by the intercom's harsh ring. She frowned, pushing off the warm blanket she had been buried under, and stood. It was probably her idiot neighbor again; Chloe listened to some sob story about him locking his keys in his car and buzzed him in a few months back. Ever since the irresponsible jackass treated their apartment's intercom like it was connected to his own personal concierge. She jabbed the black transmit button with her finger, irritated.  
"Trevor, I don't care if you lost your keys, I'm not buzzing you in!"  
The speaker crackled to life and Beca's eyes went wide with surprise at the voice she heard coming out.

"This isn't Trevor, Beca, it's Aubrey, and I've got Chloe. Open the door." Beca's eyebrows contorted with her confusion, but she pressed the lower button with her thumb, holding it for a good fifteen seconds to make sure Aubrey would have had time to get the door open. Once she was satisfied that the blonde would be on her way to the elevator Beca hurried to the door to their apartment and set to opening the door, which was hampered by several locks and a security bar. Just as she twisted the last dead bolt and reached out for the door handle she heard muffled swearing just outside the door and rolled her eyes. She turned the knob and let the door swing open to see a clearly exasperated Aubrey with Chloe half slumped against her side, being supported but not quite propped up.

"Oh my God, Bree! Is she all right?" Beca gasped, rushing forward to examine Chloe, but Aubrey stopped her short with a curt wave.

"She's fine, she just had way too much to drink. I'm the one who's going to have a hernia from this experience. How is she so skinny but so heavy?" Aubrey complained, careful not to let Chloe's head slide off her shoulder where she was resting.

"C'mon Chlo, Beca's gonna get you in bed sweetie." At hearing her name Chloe's head half lifted and she blinked unevenly at Beca, a smile spreading over her face.

"Baby!" Chloe exclaimed, her words drawn out. She stood up on her own weight unsteadily and rushed toward the shorter woman, nearly stumbling as she wrapped her arms around Beca. She glared and shook her head at Aubrey who just rolled her eyes in response, then she turned her attention to Chloe. She stepped back and offered her arm to help the girl balance.

"Hey Chloe, honey, let's get you upstairs." Beca turned, guiding Chloe toward the foot of the stairs, and then supporting her with a hand at the small of her back, made sure that Chloe could get up the stairs.

"I'll be right back," Beca said gruffly, not bothering to face Aubrey, who had followed them in without invitation - not that any of them felt it was needed, "grab some water if you want."

Once they reached the loft space at the top of the stairs Beca made sure that Chloe made it to their bed, watching her flop down onto the queen sized mattress which dominated the space.

"I'm gonna go let Bree out, I'll be right back honey. Why don't you lay down, I'll help you get changed in a minute.

"Okay. Say goodbye Bree. Goodbye Bree!" ordered Chloe, immediately obeying her own command in a sing-song voice. Beca rolled her eyes as she turned back to the stairs and briskly made her way back down to the lower level. She found Aubrey with a tall glass of water in her hand and another on the counter by her hip. She tipped her head to the side, gesturing towards the glass.

"I poured one for her, I have a feeling she's going to need it. Beca nodded, her displeasure with the situation written clearly on her expression.

"Bree, what the hell happened?"

"We had dinner then went for a few drinks, and Dakota was working at the bar tonight." Aubrey offered. Beca's face screwed up, confused,

"What the hell does that me-" Beca hissed, her voice quiet but frustrated. Aubrey immediately cut her off.

"Dakota, y'know the one who..." Aubrey trailed off, nodding as Beca's realization became obvious, and her expression softened.

"Oh God, her," Beca said with a snort of laughter, "doesn't she know about you and Stacie?"

Aubrey took another drink from her glass, finishing it, then placed it in the sink before she faced Beca and answered.

"Well we certainly aren't trying to keep it a secret, but Dakota's never asked about anyone else, and apparently she thinks that serving us drinks with three times as much vodka is the secret to my heart." 

"Or at least your pants." Beca quipped. Aubrey shook her head with a small laugh. Beca nodded, the situation making sense. Chloe wasn't always the heaviest of drinkers, and she had obviously overdone it without realizing how strong the drinks were being made.

"Thanks for getting her home Aubrey." Beca said, and Aubrey caught the tone of concern, which made her smile in turn knowing how much Beca loved Chloe, and glad that her best friend had found someone who cared so much for her.

"Well it's not like I could have called a hobbit like you to help me carry her." Aubrey said, her voice soft.

"Bite me Posen." Aubrey smiled, aware that despite the playful insults, they both liked one another. Aubrey stepped away from the counter, her heels clicking rhythmically on the floor. She picked her jacket up off the chair she had draped it over and turned back, her face serious.

"Please take care of her Beca." 

"Sure thing cap." Beca assured with a wink, then stood at attention, gave a sloppy salute, and switched to an affected German accent.

"Auf wiedersehen, Aca-NAZI!" 

Aubrey rolled her eyes and wrapped her arms around Beca in a warm hug. Beca gave a her a gentle pat on the back and waved as Aubrey quietly left the apartment.

* * *

Beca reached the top step of the stairs, the glass of water in one hand. She flicked the lightswitch on the wall in front of her with her free hand, dousing the first floor lights. She could hear Chloe talking, but couldn't make out what her girlfriend was saying because something was muffling her voice. Beca decided to go see what Chloe was saying before she got ready for bed and walked toward their bedroom door. As she walked in she snorted out loud in laughter, instantly doubling over. Chloe was sitting on the bed, struggling to get her shirt over her head, but her arm had gotten twisted through the drape of fabric around the neck and she was stuck, trying to talk herself through the problem. 

"Becs, is that you? It's dark and my shirt is stuck."

Beca shook her head in amusement then stepped into the fully lit room to help her girlfriend, carefully setting the water down on the bed-side stand. She took one step towards the bed only to completely lose her composure as Chloe leaned too far in her contortions and gradually, almost as if in slow motion, tipped over. Beca collapsed by the foot of the bed in peals of laughter, tears blinding her.

"I'm sideways." Chloe announced then she too began laughing, and the sound of her muffled giggles only made Beca laugh even harder until Chloe's squirming finally worked her to the edge of the bed, where she promptly fell onto thick carpet with a hushed thud. Beca sat up and wiped her eyes clear as Chloe uttered a single, emphatic, "Oww."

"Chloe honey, let me help you." Beca mustered, still breathing heavily, and she pulled the redhead to her feet and settled her back on the bed. She slid her hand up the front of the madly twisted garment and eased Chloe's arm back out, pulling the stretchy fabric over her elbow so she could be free. The shirt loosened enough for Beca to guide the garment over Chloe's head and the girl was finally free.

"Mmm, that feels better. Thank you Becs!" Chloe's words were slow and overly articulated, like she had to concentrate on each part of the sentence to get it just right.

"I bet." Beca said, rising to her feet with Chloe's shirt in her hand. She tossed it in the dirty clothes hamper by their shared dresser and slid open the drawer where Chloe kept her pajamas. Beca pulled out a loose pair of jersey shorts and one of Chloe's faded Bellas t-shirts for her to sleep in. She turned back to find Chloe laying on the bed, exactly where Beca had placed her, with her legs still hanging over the edge of the bed and her feet absently swinging back and forth as she played with the bedskirts with her heels.

"Here you go sweetie," Beca said, laying the clothes beside Chloe on the bed. "let's get you into something comfier."

"M'kay." Chloe nodded her assent as she spoke, but didn't move. Instead she looked up and caught Beca's attention with her impossibly blue eyes.

"We never talked about our fight." Beca watched her girlfriend, unsure of where Chloe was going with her conversation.

"I know Chloe, but I don't think you're really in a state to have that conversation right now."

Chloe looked down at her hands, held defensively in her lap. Beca studied her face, wanting to tell her how sorry she was, but afraid that Chloe was too out of it to remember.

"You always talk to me when we fight Beca. I'm sorry I made you sleep downstairs, I shouldn't have." Her voice cracked slightly and Beca realized in a moment of blinding panic that she was on the verge of crying.

"No, Chloe - honey, you didn't do anything wrong!"

"Yes I did!" she answered, her eyes watery with unshed tears. "I was such a bitch!"

"Chloe," Beca said, sitting down and taking her girlfriend's hands in her own. "I was a real jerk that night, and I wanted to talk to you, but I don't think now's the right time baby. But I'm sorry, and you didn't do anything wrong, it was all my fault."

Chloe met Beca's eyes, sniffing slightly. She sucked in a deep breath, holding it before she let it out in a long, quiet sigh.

"Well I'm still sorry I made you sleep on the couch." she said after a few moments of silence. Beca smiled in response, and picked up the t-shirt and handed it to Chloe.  
"Do you need help with your bra or pants Chlo?"

Chloe shook her head, stripped off the rest of her clothes, leaning on the bed for balance. She slipped into the ones that Beca had given her while Beca leaned down and scooped up the crumpled pile from the floor.

"Why don't you get into bed, I'm going to brush my teeth. We can talk in the morning."

Chloe nodded slowly, the alcohol and late hour taking their toll. Beca watched her push back the comforter and climb under the blanket as she walked back out to the bathroom, dropping the last of the clothes in the hamper as well. She quickly brushed her teeth and flossed before returning to the room, wondering if Chloe would already be asleep. The teacher was curled on her side of the bed with her back towards where Beca slept, her breathing slow and regular. Beca tiptoed to the bed and crept in carefully, trying not to disturb her girlfriend, and settled comfortably, wrapping her arm gently around Chloe's waist. The other woman stirred slightly at the touch but didn't seem bothered.

"Beca?" Chloe's voice was sleepy, as if she was half-awake and talking to a dream.

Beca hummed her response, not opening her eyes.

"Will you still be here tomorrow?" Beca pushed herself up on her left hand, looking down at Chloe.

"Of course, I'm not going anywhere."

"You did, once. You left us in Georgia, after the semi finals." Beca scoffed quietly, and shook her head, confused by the line of conversation.

"Baby, that was almost ten years ago."

"I know," Chloe said softly into the dark. "But you still left because of me, and it broke my heart."

Beca's chest tightened at her words and hearing the pain laced in Chloe's quiet, tired voice. She remembered that night, and she knew that Chloe had held herself responsible in part for not sticking up for Beca, but she had never really brought it up after Beca came back. Laying in the dark as she heard her girlfriend's quavering plea told Beca how deeply it had actually cut, and her blood felt like ice in her veins, making her even more sure of how much she owed Chloe. Beca settled back into the bed, tightening her arm and pulling Chloe close to her chest. She felt tense in Beca's arms, but didn't try to pull away. Beca thought about how right Chloe felt in her arms, and she was so glad she had made the choices that led her to where she was.

"I'm sorry Chloe, but I'm not going to do that, not ever again. I promise I'll be here tomorrow." 

The room was silent save for their breaths for a while, but after a while Beca felt her relaxing into her, and a hand found hers under the weight of the comforter as Chloe threaded her fingers between Beca's.

"Good," Chloe finally said, "because I want to be your wife."

Beca didn't say anything, but she smiled, barely able to contain how happy Chloe's words made her feel. 

"Not today, but someday, when we're ready. I don't think I could take it if you ran away again." Chloe quickly clarified. Beca settled for simply giving Chloe's hand a gentle squeeze in the night and closed her eyes as she listened to her girlfriend's breathing, the rhythmic murmurs more beautiful than any hook or mix Beca had ever imagined. At length it slowed and deepend, letting her know that Chloe had fallen asleep. She opened her eyes and looked into the ceiling, letting her mind drift through the sea of thoughts and feelings.

"Wife." she whispered into the darkness, letting the word roll around her tongue, as if she was trying it on for size. She realized she was grinning and turned back to Chloe, planting a soft kiss on her shoulder before laying her face against the warm curls of hair. The last conscious thought that Beca remembered before she slipped into the embrace of her own exhaustion was that she hoped that they would find each other in their dreams.

* * *

Chloe groaned as her mind pulled her back into consciousness. The insistent trills of the robins nested in a copse of trees outside the open window felt thunderous in her current state. Her head throbbed with every beat of her heart, and even with her eyes closed it felt like the ribbons of light sneaking around the edges of her blinds were intolerable. Slowly, and with great effort she pulled herself to a sitting position, her throat feeling scratchy and dry and her mouth - ugh, she didn't even want to think about what it felt like had happened in her mouth.

Chloe slowly surveyed the room. The bed was empty save for her. Beca's side was cold, her pillow neatly tucked against the headboard. She gingerly turned toward the door, hesitant because there was a bright pool of light on the floor from the skylight above her. Chloe brought her hands up and rubbed her temples, willing some of the pain to go away, and that was when she noticed her bedside stand. Her phone was there, like usual, and beside it a tall glass of water and two Advil tablets set carefully beside a single yellow daisy. 

Chloe greedily scooped up the Advil and swallowed them with big gulps of water, making short work of the glass, then carefully set it back where it had been. She guessed she had Beca to thank for that, as well as her phone making it onto its charger, since she had no memory of doing it herself. Heck, she didn't remember much of last night after getting in the car with Aubrey. She picked the flower up, a small smile spreading over her lips, and she rolled it between her fingers. The pleasant green scent filled her nose as it spun, like fresh cut grass baking in the sun. The door creaked and she looked up to see Beca peering around the edge of the frame,, her hair up in a messy bun.

"Oh, hey, you are up. I was just checking on you." Chloe nodded, immediately regretting the motion, but plastered on a smile because she was so happy to see Beca. She vaguely remembered telling Beca she was sorry about their fight, and she was pleased to see that Beca didn't look upset or distant.

"How you feeling?" inquired the brunette, stepping into the room.

"Like a mariachi band is throwing a party in my head, and the cops are trying to break it up?" Chloe said, and Beca offered her a sympathetic wince.

"Yeah, Aubrey told me that you guys got super-drinks from that bartender who keeps hitting on her, that's probably why you were so drunk."

Chloe immediately hid her face behind her hands, a muffled groan escaping between her fingers.

"That's so embarrassing, I feel like a dumb teenager who couldn't handle herself. I'm sorry you had to take care of me when I was such a mess."

Chloe caught Beca's dismissive wave through her fingers and dropped her hands into her lap. Beca flashed her stunning smile and leaned forward, her lips falling on Chloe's cheek in a soft kiss. Chloe brought her hand up and rubbed her fingertips over the spot after Beca pulled back, a pleasant glow building inside her.

"I've got some cinnamon rolls in the oven, they'll be ready in a little bit if you think you're up for food." Chloe smiled appreciatively. She wasn't sure she trusted her stomach to food, but she might have to risk it for cinnamon rolls, they were her favorite after all.

"So..." Chloe watched Beca's face as the brunette's voice trailed off, trying to read anything from her expression.

"About last night."

"Yeah," agreed Beca, sitting next to Chloe on top of the covers, "about last night."

Chloe looked down, picking at her cuticle distractedly, nervous about meeting Beca's eyes. She thought she remembered them making some sort of peace about their fight, but she still felt guilty over how she had reacted to Beca and was afraid that whatever was said last night was simply because Beca didn't want to scold her when she was three sheets to the wind. She finally looked up, knowing that Beca deserved an honest conversation.

"I don't..." Chloe faltered, here eyes darting away again, embarrassed.

"I don't remember much of last night. I think we talked, y'know, about our fight. I'm sorry that-" Chloe stopped as she felt Beca's hand softly land on hers and she saw her shaking her head.

"We talked a tiny bit," Beca interrupted, "but I thought it was a conversation for when you were better able to be a part, but I'll say again that you didn't do anything wrong, and I'm so sorry for how I treated you."

Chloe's eyes twisted, confused.

"Beca, why are you sorry, I kicked you out of the bed and wouldn't talk to you."

Beca chuckled a little bit, her eyes traveling to the window, although Chloe couldn't tell what she was looking at.

"Look, Chloe, that night I fucked up. You were just trying to share something that mattered and I was a real bitch about it." Beca turned her attention back, holding Chloe's gaze, her eyes tinged with sadness, or maybe something else - regret?

"You've always supported me in everything. Literally, since the day I met you, nobody has believed in me or stood beside me in everything like you. You deserve so much better than I gave you that night, and I can't tell you how sorry I am." Beca's voice cracked as she spoke, and Chloe rubbed her thumb over the back of Beca's hand as it lay on her's, drawing random circles around her knuckles in hopes that it would comfort her.

Chloe wanted to say something, to scoop Beca up into her arms and kiss away her tears, to tell her that she forgave her, but she could sense that Beca wasn't finished. She watched silently as she took a deep breath.

"I want to show you something." Beca wrapped her hands around her midsection and grabbed the hem of her tank top, pulling it up and over her head, leaving her in only her leggings. Chloe bit her lip, not understanding, but trying to suppress a smile at whatever Beca was trying to do.

"Becs, sweetie, you're really pretty, and I'll never complain about -" Chloe paused, gesturing at Beca's body. "all this, but I'm pretty sure I've seen you topless before."

Beca rolled her eyes but said nothing, instead twisting her waist to the side so that her back was partially to Chloe, and she instantly saw what Beca had meant. The skin on her left shoulder blade was now host to an immaculately rendered tattoo. Chloe had gotten enough tattoos to tell that this one was only a few days old, the skin around the edges of the tattoo just a tiny bit colored from the session still and the linework of the tattoo still incredibly clear and vibrant. Chloe's eyebrows furrowed as she took it in. It was a picture of two bird heads nestled together, their heads resting against one another just above the beak. From the bill she guessed they were some kind of a duck, their plumage was a muted brown with wispy feathers, except for a pure white marking around each eye, almost as if they had been lined with a white pen, a dramatic curve falling away from the eye towards the back of their heads. She looked back up to see Beca watching her intently, waiting for her reaction.

"It's beautiful." Chloe said after a few moments of quiet, her voice hesitant as she tried to understand the meaning that Beca was trying to impart. "Are they ducks?"

Beca turned back toward Chloe and cleared her throat, speaking in carefully measured words.

_The memories of long love  
gather like drifting snow,  
poignant as the mandarin ducks  
who float side by side in sleep._

Chloe's jaw dropped, recognition instantly flooding through her as she heard Beca recite Prince Genji's refrain to the passage she had read the night of their fight. The tattoo - it was a pair of mandarin ducks, nestled into a silent embrace, just like the poem. She blinked as she felt a bloom of heat on her cheek and she realized she was crying. Her hand came up on clutched her mouth, and for the first time that she could remember she was utterly speechless. She sobbed happily into her hand even as Beca leaned into her and rested her forehead against Chloe's.

"You remembered?" Beca pulled back slightly and shrugged. She brought her hand up and wiped Chloe's cheeks free of tears, taking care not to catch her eye with her nails.

"Well, enough to let Google help me with the rest. Did I get right?" Beca whispered, her voice colored with nervousness. Chloe choked out a watery laugh and nodded.

"I'm sorry I didn't talk to you sooner, but Alois couldn't get me in until Wednesday. I just -" Beca trailed off and Chloe could see her struggling to find the right words. She rested her hands on Beca's hips, feeling her soft skin under her fingertips, waiting or Beca.

"I wanted to show you that when I tell you I love you, I mean all of you. Everything that makes you who you are, including what you're passionate about." Chloe grinned and with her hands pulled Beca to her, rolling the shorter woman up off the bed and onto her hip to hungrily capture Beca's lips with hers.

Beca whimpered softly at the contact into Chloe's lips and then leaned back slightly - not enough to pull them apart, just to calm their kiss. Her arms came up and wrapped around Chloe's neck comfortably as she broke apart with a smile only to immediately dip back in for another kiss. Chloe relaxed, melting into Beca's arms as they held one another, the anxiety and fear from their fight forgotten. After a while Chloe pulled away, giggling as Beca chased her for a few final pecks, then sat back down on her rear.

"I love you Beale." she said into the small space that had grown between them, and the smile plastered on Chloe's face grew even wider, which she hadn't thought possible.

"I love you too." Chloe said, almost as if to herself. Beca dropped one last kiss on Chloe's forehead then stood with a sigh.

"I've gotta go check on the cinnamon buns." she explained, letting out a sigh. Chloe just nodded, her weight resting on her elbow as she watched the intoxicating sway of Beca's hips as she padded out of the bedroom, the morning sun giving her flawless skin a warm glow. Done admiring the shape of Beca's body, Chloe fell back into the bed, her smile never faltering, and she knew for certain that this was how she wanted to wake up every morning, for the rest of her life.

**Author's Note:**

> The prompt offered was "anything bechloe and angst but with a good or fluffy ending".
> 
> The selections of writing recited in this fic is a selection from The Tale of Genji, by the lady Murasaki Shikibu.


End file.
